Volunteer as an Individual

Let’s dig in!

If you’re passionate about trees and conservation, we have the perfect volunteer opportunity waiting for you. We offer a wide range of events that are fun and rewarding. Join us now, and help build and protect our urban canopy!

Volunteer with Trees Atlanta as an Individual

First time volunteering with Trees Atlanta? Please complete our registration form here:

Already have a volunteer account?

If you had a previous Volgistics account or you have completed the registration form (above), you can request a unique link to view your personal volunteer information in our new system by completing the form below. An email will be sent to you with your personal site URL. Use this URL to sign up for projects and view your volunteer history (including hours served). You can also update your profile information via this site. We recommend bookmarking your personal site URL for future use.

Saturday Projects

Perhaps the most popular volunteer activity is our weekly Saturday projects. Trees Atlanta has volunteer opportunities just about every Saturday year-round. These hands-on, “dig in the dirt” activities are a great way to meet new friends and get to know more about the community while also helping make it a better place to live.

On Saturday mornings from 9:00 am – 12 noon, we meet our volunteers in different Atlanta neighborhoods for tree planting, tree care, or forest restoration projects (depending on the time of year). It’s fun! It’s free! It’s a great way to meet new friends and get to know Atlanta. Check out our upcoming projects!

You can also learn more about how our NeighborWoods program can bring 30-70 trees to your neighborhood.

Weekday Projects

Trees Atlanta needs help during the week, too. We announce weekday opportunities in our weekly volunteer email (that you receive when you sign up to volunteer) and on our calendar. You can sign up through your volunteer account. Weekday opportunities include: helping lead a group project, assisting our Education team, weeding at the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Center, event preparation, and watering or mulching with the Urban Forestry Crew. Some volunteer opportunities require a background check.

Under the age of 18?

All ages are welcome to attend our tree and meadow plantings (typically October – March) and we recommend ages 12 and up for tree maintenance projects (typically April – September). Volunteers under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

16 and 17-year-old volunteers who attend on their own must have a parent or guardian sign our liability waiver on their behalf and bring it with them to the project.

Court-Ordered Community Service

Court-ordered community service credit is available for these offenses: DUI, Speeding Tickets, Loitering, Reckless Driving, and other misdemeanors (at Trees Atlanta’s discretion). Violent offenses including battery, assault or animal cruelty are not eligible for community service credit with Trees Atlanta. All individuals who have been court-ordered to perform community service MUST get pre-approved by filling out a Court-Ordered Community Service Request Form (below). If you do not get pre-approved before volunteering, you will not be able to count your service hours towards your court-mandated hours.

1. Magnolia Collection

Magnolias are part of an ancient lineage of flowering plants dating back approximately 95 million years. The Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum is home to 18 types of magnolias from evergreen to flowering. Two magnolias in particular have witnessed history as they were planted just beyond the outfield wall for the former Ponce de Leon Park, where the Atlanta Crackers played baseball. Babe Ruth and Eddie Matthews both hit home runs that were caught in the canopy of one of these magnolia trees. As part of Arboretum experimentation, we have taken cuttings from these historic magnolias and grown them into new trees so that this piece of history can live on the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum and in new parks and baseball fields around Atlanta.

2. 33 Oaks

The oak trees on this slope and throughout the Arboretum represent many ecosystems in Georgia, from bottomland hardwood swamps to granite outcrops. Of the approximately 90 species of oaks native to the United States, 33 are native to Georgia. All 33 oaks are growing on this slope and between them dance 33 stainless steel leaf sculptures – one for each tree.

These metal oaks were designed and crafted by David Landis of Landis Sculpture Studio. Learn more about David’s work here.

3. Beech Circle

Among the stateliest of our native trees, beeches are indicative of a mature forest. Though they can take around 40 years to produce a large quantity of nuts, beech trees are critical for wildlife. Beeches provide food and shelter for all kinds of birds and mammals, such as the red-headed woodpecker. Dubbed the fairy ring, the circle of beech trees here surrounds a granite outdoor classroom and gathering place where you can contemplate how the beech trees will look in 3, 5, and 10 years!

4. Eastside Azalea Collection

Despite the native azalea holding the title of Georgia’s State Wildflower, it is underused in the landscape. The Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum is now home to the largest public native azalea collection in the Atlanta Area with over 300 azaleas on display. The collection highlights over 25 species, cultivars, and varieties, and is home to all 13 azaleas native to the state of Georgia. This collection focuses on named cultivars (varieties that have been selected for depending on color, size, bloom time, etc.) within two series called the Georgia Moon Series and the Sunrise to Sunset Series. The Georgia Moon Series will have fragrant white-blooming Georgia native species, and the Sunrise to Sunset Series will be comprised of Georgia native species in warm orange, reds, and soft yellows blooming from March – July.

5. Stumpery Garden

This stumpery garden will be a horticultural oddity, serving as a public place for learning and exploration and demonstrating how trees can be utilized in a beautiful way. Stumpery gardens utilize dead, fallen, and storm-damaged trees as an asset to the garden – providing critical habitat for beetles, frogs, birds, and small mammals such as chipmunks. Whole logs are placed upside down to display their root structure, and logs, branches, and pieces of bark are arranged to form walls and archways. Plants such as ferns, lichen, mosses, soft grasses, and trailing plants are encouraged to grow on and around them.

6. Westside Azalea Collection

Different from the Eastside collection, the Westside collection has all straight species and natural varieties that encourage free hybridization. These azaleas are all grown from seed so there are many variations in the hues even between the same species.

7. Persimmon Woods

Home to the largest American persimmon tree in the state of Georgia, this remnant old growth forest on 1.3 acres provides habitat to a variety of deep forest flora. Walking through a nature trail and over a few bridges will bring you up close and personal with woodland groundcovers, rare spring ephemerals (plants with a short life cycle) such as trillium, and a large collection of native woody species. Enjoy the seasonal blooms, learn from plant identification signs, and get hands-on with volunteer opportunities to plant, divide woodland perennials, and collect seed.